Petuniaxc3x97hybrida cultivar Conviolet.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petuniaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Conviolet.
The new Petunia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Petunias with numerous small flowers with attractive flower colors.
The new Petunia originated from a cross made by the Inventor in April, 1999 of the Petunia cultivar Fantasy Blue, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with an unidentified selection of Petunia, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Petunia was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny on Oct. 20, 1999, in Gensingen, Germany, on the basis of its small and numerous dark purple-colored flowers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal vegetative cuttings taken in Gensingen, Germany has shown that the unique features of this new Petunia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Conviolet have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and daylength without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Convioletxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Convioletxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Outwardly spreading and uniform plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit.
3. Small rounded leaves.
4. Numerous small single flowers that are dark purple in color.
5. Good garden performance.
Plants of the new Petunia differ from plants of the female parent, the cultivar Fantasy Blue, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Petunia are more outwardly spreading and not as upright as plants of the female parent.
2. Plants of the new Petunia are more vigorous than plants of the female parent.
3. Plants of the new Petunia have better garden performance than plants of the female parent.
Plants of the new Petunia differ from plants of the male parent, the unidentified Petunia selection, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Petunia are more vigorous than plants of the male parent.
2. Plants of the new Petunia have larger flowers than plants of the male parent.
3. Plants of the new Petunia flower for a longer period of time than plants of the male parent.
Plants of the new Petunia are similar in flower color to the cultivar Sunblu, not patented; however in side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gensingen, Germany, plants of the new Petunia had much smaller flowers than plants of the cultivar Sunblu.